


Zombie Moon: Bean's Story

by CiciWeezil



Category: Rugrats & All Grown Up! (Cartoons)
Genre: Gen, Interview With a Campfire, all grown up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-27 10:26:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15022604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CiciWeezil/pseuds/CiciWeezil
Summary: 130 years ago, a group eight settlers arrived and made camp in the Everwood Forest, near the man-faced rock. Shortly after their arrival, three of them go missing, and the others are left without food and supplies in a harsh winter.Interview With a Campfire from Bean's point of view.





	1. Chapter 1

_December 24th, 1872_

_It has been two days since our dear uncle, Smithy Spencer, disappeared near the man-faced rock. Jack Blithely is not well, and though our physician and barber, Mister Wolfe, works day and night to keep him warm, the poor man has not woken in three days. Mister Rand said he was in a koh-ma. I do not know how to spell such a word._

_I remarked to Finley earlier that it was Christmas Eve, but he merely stared at me with those dead eyes. I fear I reminded him of what occurred this very night, two years ago. The single event that led Uncle Smithy to lead my brother and me, and this small band of friends, to the west. I do not think it wise of me to mention the date to anybody else, for it will either anger or sadden them. I wonder-_

"Put that darned book away, Miss Mattson!" Shouted Walter Rand.

Debby looked up and quickly closed her journal.

"Your uncle's missing and you're still scribbling?" Mister Rand asked, incredulous.

"I am keeping a record of the events that occur on our journey. That is why Uncle Smithy gave me this journal." Debby said bravely.

Mister Rand looked as though he wanted to say more, but he was cut off by Mister Wolfe.

"Bean! You catch anything?" The physician/barber asked hopefully.

Finley, or Bean as everyone else called him, held up two small rabbits. He was a boy of few words, and many had thought he was simple-minded. Debby knew her brother just didn't like other people. He talked plenty to her. At least, he used too. The group quickly set the rabbits to cooking.

"Don't know what we'd do without you, Bean." Mister Rand noted.

"Starve." Bean said simply.

And it was true. For the past four weeks, Bean had been the only source of food for them. He was skilled with traps and fishing, and caught many small animals for the settlers to feast on. But larger game was impossible without a gun or bow, and they had run out of bullets and arrows long ago. Just two weeks past, Bean had told them the water in the stream was now too cold for any fish, and he had been catching squirrels and rabbits since.

The rabbits were almost ready when Eliza burst into the camp, a frantic look upon her face.

"Amelia is gone!" She shouted.

"Gone to fetch water, hasn't she?" Asked Mister Rand.

"Nigh on an hour ago…" Said Mister Wolfe. "I asked Eliza to go and find her."

"She wasn't there! I looked everywhere and I cannot find her!" Tears filled Eliza's eyes and she slipped to the ground, sobbing. The men took off their hats as they watched her.

Bean stood, as did Mister Rand.

"We'll go and look for her. You and Miss Mattson can tend dinner and assist Thomas." Said Mister Rand.

Debby wrapped an arm around Eliza in an attempt to comfort her.

Eliza wiped away the tears and nodded to the men, who began to leave the camp. Suddenly, Debby stood and grabbed her brother's arms.

"Finley!" She cried.

Bean turned to look at her, that dead look from earlier still in his eyes.

"What if you disappear, too?"

"Hafta find them." He said, pulling his arm away and following Mister Rand to the stream.

Debby wanted to follow, but Eliza needed her, so she returned to the fire and helped her friend cool down the rabbits and divide them into six pieces. Mister Blithely would not be eating tonight. Mister Rand said people in his state couldn't eat.

Bean and Mister Rand returned less than an hour later, the sun beginning to set.

"No sign of her." Mister Rand said.

The group sat in silence as they ate, stealing glances at what should have been Amelia's portion.

It was Bean that finally did it. He took the leftover portion and split it into five parts, one for each of them. They ate sadly, remembering their friend, and hoping they would find her the next day.

But they never saw her again.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Debra," Mister Wolfe joined Debby near the man-faced rock. "What are you doing here?"

"Come to collect wood for the fire." Debby told him, holding up the bundle of sticks in her arms. "There's little to find near the camp so I ventured a bit further. What have you come here for?"

"I'm retrieving water for Jack. He's getting weaker. I fear his time will come soon, But I do not believe any man should go to his death parched."

Debby smiled and waved to him as they parted. She returned to camp to find Bean, who was holding her journal. He stared at it, his eyes unmoving.

"Are you alright, Finley?" She asked quietly.

He looked up at her, that dead look suddenly gone, replaced by sadness.

"You're all I got left, Deb." He told her. "Ma, Pa, Uncle Smithy. All of 'em gone." Debby sat down next to him, adding wood to the fire. She wasn't sure what to say.

"What does this say?" Finley asked, after several minutes of silence. Finley, unlike Debra, had never learned to read. He had always hated to sit still for lessons. Even now, as the two sat near freezing in front of the fire, his foot moved slowly.

"You'd know if you hadn't spent all your time riding that old horse of Pa's." Debby teased. Finley gave her a small smile, and she returned it. It wasn't comfortable, to say the least, with how dry their lips were.

"Do you want me to read it to you?" Debby asked.

Finley nodded, handing her the book. She had just opened it to the first entry when Eliza and Mister Rand returned.

"Still no sign of either of them." Mister Rand said. "Where's Thomas?"

"Mister Wolfe went to fetch water for Jack." Debby said.

Mister Rand and Eliza shared a worried glance.

"We were just at the stream." Mister Rand said. "Wasn't anyone there. And we took the only path back to camp. He should've been here before us."

"But I saw him not twenty minutes ago!" Debby cried.

"I'll head back and see if we missed him." Mister Rand said.

"No." Bean said.

"Finley! Mister Wolfe could be hurt." Debby looked at him with tears in her eyes. She didn't want to lose another friend.

"Too dark. You'll never find your way back." Her brother said. The others didn't argue. They were too cold, tired and hungry.

Mister Rand and Eliza sat down across the fire from them. They ate bird that night. Bean had spent most of the day plucking the feathers out of three birds. Eliza had told him to save the plumes, for they could use them in arrows later. Bean had given her a strange look, as though he didn't think it mattered anymore, but he had stored them anyways.

The next morning found them all in mourning. Jack had not made it through the night. Debby wrote of the most recent events in her journal, her hand shaking as she shivered in the cold.

Mister Rand returned from the stream with no luck. Mister Wolfe was gone.

Uncle Smithy. Amelia. Mister Wolfe.

They were all gone.

The next few days found them trapped in a blizzard, with only a lean-to to protect them from the blistering cold wind.

After Jack went Mister Rand, and Eliza soon followed.

As the blizzard subsided, Bean and Debby slowly made their way out of the shelter. It was nighttime, a full moon.

Debby clutched her journal to her chest and snuggled into her brother's arms. They hadn't spoken a word since Jack's death, but Bean finally broke the silence.

"Love you." She heard him whisper. She whispered it back to him and then fell asleep in his arms.

Bean knew she was gone. But he couldn't bring himself to let go. He had not the strength to stand and give her a proper burial. Or any of them.

Jack Blithely. Walter Rand. Eliza Lockhart. Debra Mary Lou Mattson.

He repeated the names in his head for as long as he could, but the cold was affecting his memory.

Jack Blithely. Walter Rand. Eliza Lockhart. Debra Mary Lou Mattson.

Jack… Rand… Eliza… Debra Mary Lou Mattson…

Debra Mary Lou Mattson…

Debra Mary Lou…

A voice was whispering. Bean strained his ear to listen.

"You must find them." It said.

Find who? Bean thought.

"You know who. There were eight of you. Then five. Now there are none of you."

I don't understand.

"You must remember them, Bean. Nobody else will. You must find them. There souls will not rest if they are forgotten."

But I can't even move.

"Fear not. I will grant you a power. You will rise from your grave seven days before each full moon. When the full moon wanes, you will return to your grave once more. You must find your friends. Bring peace to their souls. If you wish to bury your dead, you have but hours before dawn."

Bean opened his eyes. The full moon was low in the sky behind the man-faced rock. He tried to stand, and realized that he still held his sister in his arms.

With a sudden burst of strength, he stood and walked to the base of the rock. He brought all four of his friends' bodies their, laying carefully alongside each other. With a shovel they had kept from their supplies, he dug four graves, moving faster and with more strength than he'd ever had in life. If his sister had awoken from her eternal slumber, she would have been shocked to see the ferocity in his expression.

His eyes glowed red as he dug. Finally, He lay each one in their graves, in order by death. Jack, Rand, Eliza, Deb. He refilled the graves, and then dug a fifth one. He found his own body slumped against the rock, and laid it in the hole. Then, without another thought, he buried himself. As the moon fell below the horizon, Bean took this last moment to store his sister's diary in a nearby tree.

Bean did not see the sun begin to rise that morning. Just as the voice said, he returned to his grave to await the next full moon.


	2. Chapter 2

Bean couldn't count very high. He didn't keep track of dates well, either. After all, it was hard to do when you were only conscience for seven days each month. He didn't know how many full moons had passed since the curse, as he'd begun to call it. He only knew that time was passing by the changing of the seasons.

People were a rare sight in the Everwood Forest. Bean always avoided them when he did see them. He disliked people in life, and he disliked them even more in death.

For some reason, he didn't care that he was dead. His only focus for eternity was finding the three missing settlers. As the years went by, Bean knew he would not find them alive. But he had to know what had happened to them. How did they disappear?

Did they abandon the others?

He only considered it once, before reminding himself of two things. One, Uncle Smithy would never do such a thing to his only two relatives and his closest friends. Two, if the three of them had abandoned them and left the forest, there wouldn't be a curse. The voice wouldn't have told him to remember them, to find them, if they had simply moved on.

They were somewhere in the forest. The question was where? Bean wasn't learned in his letters or numbers, but that didn't mean he was stupid. He spent his time leading up to each full moon walking the forest trails, searching every inch of Everwood, high and low.

But he found no trace of them.

It was many, many moons later that Bean spoke for the first time since his death. A group of people entered the clearing where he and the other settlers had once camped. Bean sat in the center, staring at a fire he'd made. He never felt cold anymore, but it reminded him of his sister. She had spent so much of her time tending the flames in their last days.

"Oh, hello, there!" A man's voice said.

Bean's head snapped around to find the source of the voice. It had been so long since he'd heard speech. He was too shocked to reply.

"Sorry, did we scare you?" The man said. He was middle-aged, accompanied by two women, one about the same age as him, and the other much younger. Perhaps a few years older than Bean. "My name is Robert Flannigan. This is my wife, Georgia, and our daughter, Ellie."

"I-I'm Bean." He managed to say after a few moments.

"Well, Bean," Robert said, "What brings you out here?"

"I live here." He said, deciding it was the simplest answer.

The Flannigans seemed surprised by this, but did not question him about it. Rather, Robert jumped to the point. "So you must know a lot about these woods, then, eh? Say, do you mind if we stay a few nights here? This is the largest clearing for miles."

 _So long as you don't notice my disappearance on the full moon._ Bean thought. "Fine with me." He shrugged.

"Wonderful!" Robert exclaimed. Bean thought he looked like a dog who had just received the biggest bone in the world. What was he so excited about?

Robert turned to his family, then. "Ellie, you set up the tents here while your mother and I get the rest of our things from the car."

"Okay, Dad." Ellie said, taking two long, colored bags from her father. As her parents left the clearing, the girl quickly began pulling long metal pieces and heavy cloth from one of the bags.

Bean watched her, and for a few minutes there was silence between them. He couldn't help but notice how oddly dressed she was. Her clothes were very revealing, he thought, and brightly colored.

"So, do you have a house out here?" Ellie asked.

Bean was caught off guard by this. He decided the general truth would be alright. "No. It was in New England. And it burnt down."

"What about your family?" Ellie asked.

"Dead."

"From the fire?"

"Not my sister. She died in the winter."

"So you're an orphan?"

"Yeah."

"How old are you?"

Bean paused for a moment, then said, "Sixteen."

"Me, too." Ellie said. "My birthday just passed in May. Daddy threw me a fabulous party."

"A party?"

"You know, to celebrate my birthday and what not." She replied. "When is your birthday?"

"September 4." He said.

"Really? So you're several months older than me."

Bean wasn't sure why she was so interested in their ages, but he hoped she changed the subject soon. Ellie finished the first tent, a large yellow pyramid-y canopy. She started on a slightly smaller, blue tent next.

"That one is my parents. This one is for me." Ellie said. "So is your name really Bean?"

"No."

"Then what's your real name?"

Bean didn't answer right away.

"Earth to Bean? You still in there?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you what your real name was."

"Finley."

She looked at him expectantly, and he sighed.

"Finley Mattson."

"I like that name. Why would you want anyone to call you Bean?"

Bean shrugged.

"Alright then, Bean it is."

"My full name is Ella May Flannigan. Not very creative if you ask me, considering I was born in the month of May."

"I like it."

She glanced at him, and Bean thought he saw a hint of pink in her cheeks. "So, what was your sister's name?"

"Debra May Lou Mattson."

"Wow, that's a mouthful. So she and I both had the middle name May?"

"I suppose."

"Y'know, you're really strange."

"Why's that?"

"Because no one just lives out in the middle of nowhere without even a house. Except hippies. And you don't seem like a hippie to me. Are you?"

Bean had no idea what a hippie was, so he just shook his head.

"So why are you out here?"

"Why are you out here?" He questioned back.

"I asked first."

Bean sighed. No one had ever won an argument with him. He was surprisingly good at them. His father once said he could have been a lawyer if he'd only learned to read.

"I've got to find some people. They went missing out here a long time ago and I've been looking for them." He finally said.

"If there are people missing, why don't you call the police?" She asked.

"The what?" How much had he missed, hidden away in this forest's curse?

"The police. Don't tell me you don't know what the police are."

He stared at her.

"Are you serious? Have you been living under a box or something?" She finished setting up her tent and joined him by the fire. "All right, that's it. Spill it, mister. You're keeping a secret and I want to know what it is." Bean gave her an incredulous look. "And don't try lying to me. I know when people are lying. Call it a secret power of mine."

Bean thought about it. "Fine. But if I tell you, you can't tell anyone else. Not even your parents."

"Cross my heart and hope to die." She said, crossing her heart with her hands. Bean assumed that meant she would keep his secret and took a deep breath.

Forty minutes later, Bean finished his story, and was not surprised at the shocked look on Ellie's face.

"You're not lying."

"Nope."

"You're a ghost zombie."

"A what?"

"You died in 1872? That's over a hundred years ago!"

"Aye."

"And you've been here ever since?"

He nodded.

She stared at him for a few minutes.

He stared back.

"Wicked." She finally said.

"What?"

"It's brilliant! I've just met a ghost zombie!"

"You're not...scared?"

"Why would I be? If you were going to do anything, you would've already."

She had a point.

"Alright, so I know I promised not to tell my parents, but do you think I could tell them a different version of the story? Without including you and your ghostliness?"

"And what version would that be?"

She quickly told him a new version in which all of the remaining settlers haunted Everwood Forest in search of their missing friends, and that on the full moon, the settlers came to life as zombies and sucked the brains out of unfortunate travelers.

At the end of it, Bean found himself laughing. Truly laughing. He hadn't laughed since before his parents died. And he was grateful to Ellie for helping him laugh again. He agreed that she could tell her parents her version of the story.

"So now it's my turn to answer your question."

"My question?"

"You asked what my family and I were doing here."

"Oh."

"So, I'll tell you. Daddy loves camping and he wants to build a camp with cabins and everything out here, in Everwood Forest."

"A camp?"

"Oh, right, you wouldn't know. It's a place outdoors where people go to relax and have fun. They do all sorts of outdoor activities."

Bean listened intently as Ellie explained each different type of activity you might find in a "camp".

"Of course, it's only going to be a summer camp. Most people work or go to school in the fall and spring, and the winter is too cold."

Bean agreed with that last statement. He would never wish that experience on anybody.

Ellie's parents returned shortly, and she quickly bounded to them. "Daddy! Did you know this forest is haunted? Bean told me all about it!"

Robert laughed. "Now, now, Ellie, you know there's no such thing as ghosts."

"But a haunted campground would attract more people." Georgia reminded him.

"True. Let's hear this story, then." And the Flannigans listened to Ellie's tale.

* * *

Four weeks later, the construction of Camp Everwood had begun. Robert treated Bean as his advisor, since he knew the forest better than anyone. Together, they drew a map of the camp.

Apparently, Robert had bought the land that Everwood Forest stood on a year before, and had finally found the time to visit the land and find the perfect place for Camp Everwood. He hadn't expected to find Bean, but he certainly didn't mind. He even had a small, one-person cabin built for him to live in.

At first, Robert questioned why Bean disappeared three weeks out of the month, but he easily believed that Bean actually traveled on a schedule.

The next few years were interesting, to say the least. Ellie spent a year teaching him how to read, visiting at least one day every full moon, until, finally, Bean could read Wuthering Heights on his own. He didn't spend much time reading though, except for letters from Ellie, which he received once a month.

It didn't take many years, of course, for Ellie's parents to realize that, unlike Ellie, Bean didn't age. Bean managed to avoid the question for ten years, until he finally told Robert and Georgia the truth.

They took it rather well, once they got past the ghosts-are-real part of it. Robert did spend the next few days poking him though, enthralled by the idea of a corporeal ghost. Bean was grateful when they didn't hate him. He wasn't sure why, but the Flannigans were likable people, and they had done a lot for Bean even though they hardly knew him.

Bean repaid them by taking care of the campgrounds in and out of the summer. He also became a sort of camp leader.

And that was how it was for nearly thirty years. Ellie joined Bean every summer, even after her parents' deaths, in Camp Everwood. She had aged quite a bit since they'd first met. She'd even gotten married and had two sons, who now ran her father's businesses with her. She'd been an actress for twenty years, and used her skills in creating a Camp Everwood character. Ellie the shopkeeper was a grumpy, superstitious old woman who specialized in granite arrowheads, to keep ghosts away.

She liked to tell every group of campers the Legend of the Missing Settlers and the Zombie Moon. Bean played along with it.

Thankfully, the camp staff changed so much that no one ever questioned his lack of aging or his constant three-week absences each month. He became a fixture in Camp Everwood.

But even as nice as Ellie was, he felt an ache deep inside him. He wanted this curse to end. He wanted to find his old friends and let their souls, and his, finally rest in peace. He reminded Ellie of this often, but she didn't seem nearly as concerned. Bean understood why. She didn't live through what he had, and she spent most of her time in the outside world. She still went down to the stream with him where his friends went missing to try and figure out what had happened to them.

They never found any clues. They talked through dozens of scenarios, but there was a hole in each one. The hardest part was that Bean couldn't just come up with the right answer. He knew he had to actually find the settlers. Ellie agreed.

But it had been 130 years since his death and Bean was fresh out of ideas. It was hopeless. His soul would never reunite with his sister and friends

At least, that's what he thought until a strange pair of brothers and their friends arrived at Camp Everwood.


	3. Chapter 3

Bean entered the camp just as Chance was leaving the cafeteria. He'd spent the night traversing the woods again, but still had no luck in finding his long-lost friends. He was feeling more and more depressed about his failure and tried to avoid being seen by Chance, who could be extremely obnoxious. Unfortunately, the playwright spotted him.

Chance approached him with a wide smile. "Good morning, Bean! Out for a morning walk?"

Bean nodded to him and made his way to Ellie's shop, a place he knew Chance would not follow him. Ellie was eating a breakfast of oatmeal, and didn't glance up when the door's bell rang. No one but Bean came in when the store was closed.

"Mornin' Bean." Ellie greeted him. "Did you find anything?"

Ellie always asked this when she knew Bean had been searching the night before. He entered her line of vision and he shook his head.

"Hmph." Was all Ellie said.

"New round of campers comin' in today." Bean said. Ellie looked up, surprised that Bean was actually chatting with her. He only ever spoke when he had a very good reason to.

"A couple of them have already arrived." Ellie replied. "Chance has the counselors handing out their cabin assignments already. We'll be greeting them at 8. You gonna be there?"

"Got nothin' better to do." Bean said.

Ellie studied the boy for a moment. He hadn't changed a bit in thirty years. He would be sixteen forever if the curse didn't break. But even Ellie didn't know how to help him. She decided on simply cheering him up for the moment.

Reaching into a drawer under the shop counter, she pulled out a Snickers candy bar. She offered it to him and he quirked an eyebrow. "I know you don't have to eat," she said. "Being dead and all, but your tastebuds still work and this here is the best tasting candy bar in the world and you'd better not let it go to waste."

Bean smiled and took the bar. Ellie pulled another out for herself and they both sat there in silence, munching.

By the time they left the shop, it was already eight o'clock and the new arrivals were waiting outside. Chance joined them on the porch and called everyone's attention.

"I'm Chance, your camp supervisor, musical director and playwright." He said to the group. "Ellie here runs the bait and tackle and doughnut shop."

Ellie, who was holding a log for some reason, said, "Stores open from 7-6 weekdays." She twitched. "And I specialize in granite arrowheads, to keep ghosts away, because Camp Everwood is haunted, curs-ed even."

"Cursed?" Asked a purple-haired boy standing at the front of the group.

"No." Said his brown-haired friend. "Curs-ed."

Bean frowned as Chance led Ellie back into the shop and closed the door. Ellie didn't seem to mind, having said what she wanted.

He turned back to the campers. "Bit of a wackjob, she, heh. And that tall drink of creek water is Bean."

Bean smiled and waved at the crowd, noticing some of the younger girls looking at him with babydoll eyes.

"Okay, nature lovers! Let's get you all settled in so we can get this show on the road!" Chance said. He told them to meet him at the amphitheater in ten minutes, and then hopped off the porch. The crowd dispersed, and Bean went to his own, small cabin.

* * *

The morning went by very quickly as Bean did his part assisting groups of campers in archery and fishing. In the afternoon, he joined a group of hikers, which included the purple-haired boy from earlier. Bean was more than a little annoyed that Chance had decided to join the hike as well. Unfortunately for Bean, Chance could walk as fast as he could talk, so he couldn't just leave him behind, and was stuck listening to him prattle for the better part of an hour.

As they neared the top, they found two girls, a Japanese girl and a brown-haired one who looked strikingly similar to the boy who'd been with the purple-haired boy. They were gasping and looked like they'd never been on a hike before.

"Aww, do you girls need a rest?" Chance asked almost mockingly. The two girls glanced at Bean and suddenly both of them stood up straight.

"No way!" Said the Japanese girl.

"I could go for miles!" Said the brown-haired twin.

Bean joined the group for swimming afterwards. One of the boys, a ginger haired kid named Dil, was very friendly and just as superstitious as Ellie. Dil talked as much as Chance did, but about far more interesting things. He also told Bean the names of the other kids in the group.

Just for the fun of it, Bean decided to give his superstitious friend a treat. He rarely used his cursed powers, but he'd played a few pranks with them on Ellie. He turned away from the others so they wouldn't see his eyes glowing and summoned a water creature into the lake. Moments later, he turned around and watched as Dil shouted to Chuckie and his dad to watch out for the Loch Ness monster.

The creature dove beneath the waves again and Bean allowed it to return to its home. Dil turned to him. "You got my back on this one, right, Bean?"

Bean just nodded seriously.

That evening, after Chance passed out the scripts for the musical, Bean sat down at the fire pit with the campers. Dil's brother and friends were reading through the script and trying to make sense of the story. Bean listened to Chance as he described his own "personal spin" on what happened to the missing settlers.

"But that's not the real story." Bean said, surprising most of them, who hadn't heard him speak yet. "Legend has it," He began, telling Ellie's version of the tale, "three of the pioneers went off to find food and supplies. Weeks later, there was still no sign of the missing three. Though the horse returned, the covered wagon was empty. Soon, they ran out of food, went mad, and perished on this very soil. Every full moon, we call it the Zombie moon, their spirits are said to haunt the grounds, sucking out the brains of innocent campers who disappear, only to return as zombies, destined to spend eternity looking for the missing settlers."

A shrill scream pierced the night, causing most of the campers to jump in fright or fall out of their seats. Even Bean was surprised. He, Tommy and Dil decided to investigate.

They soon discovered that the sound came from a woman named Charlotte, Tommy's aunt, who had just found out that the hot water tab didn't actually work in the showers. They returned to the fire side and told the others what had happened.

After the campers and Chance returned to their cabins, Bean headed off into the woods again.

* * *

The next three days went by very quickly. Chance wasn't making much progress with the play, but Bean didn't really care. It would be terrible no matter how talented the actors were, he felt.

He spent a lot of time with Dil, intrigued by all the boys ideas and beliefs, and that his brother was trying to make a horror film. Bean had seen a few movies. Ellie had brought a TV (her shop and the cafeteria had generators to run some machines) and some of her favorite movies to show him and while Bean didn't understand all that was going on in them, he found them fascinating. It was Friday morning when Dil asked Bean if he could lead the two brothers and some friends to Pioneer Rock that night. Bean had quickly agreed, wondering if this group of kids could help him find the three missing settlers.


	4. Chapter 4

Bean arrived at the path to the woods at 6 o'clock sharp. Dil and the others weren't there yet, but that didn't bother him. He knew it would take a bit for them to escape from Chance's sight. Bean idly watched a ladybug crawling up a tree as he waited, some old songs from his childhood playing in his head. He had been too young to remember the Civil War, but his father and the other men in the town sang them, and Bean and the other children had picked them up as well.

"Brother Bean, we have arrived!" Dil exclaimed dramatically.

Bean studied the group briefly. There were five of them: Tommy, Dil, Chuckie, and the twins, Phil and Lil. Lil blushed when Bean glanced at her, but he ignored it, as usual.

"Lead the way, Brother Bean!" Dil said.

Bean shrugged and headed down the path, the others following.

Just as the sky was beginning to darken, three figures were suddenly blocking their path. Stu, Tommy and Dil's dad, Charlotte, their aunt, and Howard, the twins' dad stood before them. Bean could tell they weren't angry, but the kids seemed a bit scared. ("Busted." Phil said.)

Fortunately, the three actually wanted to join the expedition. ("Anything to keep from practicing my shuffle-ball change." Stu said.)

They continued onward. As they neared the rock, the others began to feel the pull of the man-faced rock. Bean felt it, too, but he was used to it by now. He left the others, who had headed down a path he knew was a dead-end, and went further up the trail. Another path was there, blocked by a hanging sign that said "Danger. Do not enter."

Bean unhooked it and let it fall to the ground. He knew the group wouldn't actually be in danger. After all, it was his own act that had led to the sign being placed there.

It was five years ago. A group of teenage boys attended the camp. They were rude, reckless, and stupid, in Bean's opinion. Bullies of the worst sort. One night, the boys found their way to Pioneer Rock. They brought along a radio and were dancing, drunk, at the base of the rock, on the exact spots that Bean had buried his kinfolk.

It was when one of them decided to piss on the rock, just above his sister's grave, that Bean lost it. He released a pulse of energy that knocked all four boys unconscious. When they woke, they had no memories and barely made it back to camp. Even their mannerisms were infantile.

Ellie was angry and shocked at first, but allowed Bean to explain himself. After hearing the whole story, Ellie decided that the event simply added to her story, and she began telling campers about the boys who'd had their brains sucked out by the zombies. "They's all stupid like - like they don't never got no brains or nothing."

Bean turned as the others joined him at the entrance with the sign. He motioned towards it.

"Hallelujah!" Said Dil, none of them noticing the sign on the ground. "Brother Bean has found the way."

As the others entered the path, Lil winked at Bean, flirtingly. Bean couldn't help himself. He smiled as she walked away.

"You're right, Bean." Dil said as they neared the rock, though Bean had said nothing. "Every time it seems like we're almost there, we're not."

Bean smirked and nodded slowly, knowing the camera was pointed at him. He wanted Tommy's movie to be good, especially if they helped him solve the mystery.

Finally, they reached the rock. The others expressed their admiration, and Dil turned to Bean.

"If only this rock could talk, the things he'd say."

Bean stared at him, glad the rock couldn't talk, as it would have far too much to say about Bean.

"You were wrong, Stu. This baby puts my forehead to shame." Charlotte said, looking up to find Stu wasn't there. "Stu?"

The others looked around, and Tommy lowered his camera. "Uh… Where's Dad?"

"Smithy Spencer went missing!" Howard cried.

For a moment, Bean wasn't sure why Howard was talking about his uncle, but then remembered that Stu was supposed to play the part of Smithy Spencer in the play. After realizing this, he studied the surrounding area closely, looking for any sign of Tommy's dad.

"Our dad is the first victim of the brain-sucking pioneers." Dil said. "Awesome!"

Lil suddenly looked very scared. "I'm sorry I doubted you guys before, but now I am definitely a believer!" She shouted.

"Why are you yelling?!" Chuckie yelled back.

"In scary movies, the nonbelievers are the first to go."

"Oh, to be young and ridiculously naive." Charlotte scoffed. "Stu felt guilty about bailing on Chase, so he decided to return to the show."

"Of course he did. And we should do the same. Now, right now!" Howard said fearfully.

"If he did go back, why didn't he say goodbye?" Phil pointed out.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe he didn't know how to say it in old English." Charlotte said, but the others didn't agree.

"I'm not leaving until we find my dad." Tommy said, sounding a lot like Eliza when she refused to leave before they found Smithy Spencer.

"Oh, all right, I'll play along." Charlotte said. "Stu! Where are you? If you're already a zombie, cough twice."

"This is what we'll do." Tommy said, taking charge. "Split into groups and search the woods near the rock. We have to find him before it's too late."

"Too late for what?" Dil asked.

"Don't never got no brain or nothin'" Phil, Tommy, and Chuckie chorused.

Someone's been talking to Ellie. Bean thought.

After searching awhile, everyone returned to the rock, where Charlotte was halfheartedly calling Stu's name.

"Don't wear yourself out, Charlotte." Howard snapped.

"What? I had to stay by the big, bad rock in case he was drawn back to it." She said dramatically, but then stopped. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear wh-"

Charlotte shushed him.

"I don't hear-"

"That's running water. Underground hot springs come to Mama!" Charlotte ran off towards what Bean knew was the stream.

"She's a sittin' duck." Dil commented.

"Can you say victim number two?" Phil said.

"And you know what comes next." Chuckie added, frightened.

"Don't never got no brains or nothing." All five kids, including Dil and Lil, chorused.

Howard looked panicked. "Charlotte! I order you to stay with the group-eth!"

"Dad!" Cried the twins.

Tommy and Chuckie followed with his camera, but Charlotte and Howard were gone without a trace.

Bean and the children regrouped under the rock, and headed towards the trees to search once more.

A rustling in the bushes made them all freeze, and a four-legged creature jumped out and dashed past them. Chuckie screamed and ran to a tree, climbing it faster than Bean even could.

But the creature was only a deer, which made Chuckie feel rather pathetic. Bean smiled, amused.

"You're right, bro." Dil said to Bean, who once again hadn't actually said anything. "That rock has a hold over us."

"I know we're in the middle of a crisis here," Tommy said. "Possibly on our way to permanent zombification, but I think it's important to note climbing is a skill. A talent."

"Yes, it is." Chuckie agreed. "But not that impressive when you take into account that I was running from a deer."

As he climbed down from the tree, he slipped and fell, landing in a bush, holding something in his hand.

Lil took the object. "It's a journal."

"No, nothing broken, thanks for asking."

Bean recognized the book immediately. He'd forgotten all about it. His sister's journal. She'd kept writing in it until her fingers shook so much from the cold that she couldn't form letters.

They all sat down as Lil read from one of the last written pages in the book. "Property of Debra May Lou. Surviving member of the Everwood settlers. 1872."

Bean had to hold in his excitement as Lil began to read the words his sister had promised to read to him more than a century ago.

"Winter is upon us, and I fear the worst for those lost. Today the Mister Wolfe was declared missing, the third to go. His disappearance remains a mystery, and with our brains half-frozen, one too complex for us to solve." She read.

"First brain freeze." Phil muttered.

"I waved to him as he fetched water from the old oak tree by the man-faced rock. He will be deeply missed, though not necessarily for his accordion playing."

Bean wanted to laugh. Even half-dead, his sister kept her sense of humor.

"And I regret this is my last entry, as my fingers are fro-."

"What's fro?" Phil asked, as Bean stared at the ground, wishing there was more.

"Fro-zen." Lil said.

They were silent for a moment, until Chuckie stood up.

"Where're you going?" Tommy asked.

"Didn't you notice the similarities between the disappearances?" Chuckie asked them. "All three settlers went missing after getting water by the big oak tree at the base of that rock."

"Yeah, well, that rock is bad news." Tommy said.

"Face it." said Phil. "We're all gonna fro."

"No, there might be a logical explanation for all this." Chuckie argued.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Phil said. "I've seen enough scary movies to know, we're walking into the belly of the beast!"

"Phil's right, which means I can't stop taping now." Tommy said.

Ten minutes later, they returned to the stream where the old oak tree was.

Tommy stopped suddenly, lowering the camera.

"What's the matter, Tommy?" Lil asked.

"Do you realize three people are missing and I'm still shooting my movie?" He said. "My dad disappeared and I'm worried about getting enough coverage! What is wrong with me?"

"You care more about your movie than the lives of your friends and family?" Phil offered.

"Philip!" Lil shot him an angry look.

"He's right. I risked our lives because I'm obsessed! And if I'm like this as a kid, imagine how I'm going to be when I'm old. I'll be trading my own mother for a mini DV with an instant replay feature."

"Blame it on the rock, dude." Dil said, unconcerned. "Works for me."

"No, this is my deal." Tommy walked over to Chuckie. "Chuckie, I want you to take Roman, and destroy him."

Bean vaguely wondered if most people named their video cameras.

"Uh, Tommy. You're still recording." Chuckie said.

"See what I mean! I'm out of control! Smash it! Smash it to smithereens!"

"Wait!" Lil snatched the camera up before Chuckie lowered his foot onto it. Tearfully, she gave the camera back to Tommy. "If we never come back, this'll be the only record of what happened to us. You have to keep shooting, Tommy!"

"But I already destroyed it." Chuckie said.

"Actually, there's not a scratch on it." Tommy remarked.

"Ugh! I can't even wreck things right."

"Haha! Lucky for me! Come on, Chuckie, lead the way!"

They were searching the area around the stream when a pile of leaves approached them. Chuckie once again ran away.

The leaves fell away, and they were all relieved to see the snapping turtle that had previously been attached to Phil's toe.

"Shelly! You came back!" He put the snapping turtle under his hat just as Chuckie was climbing up a huge rotted tree stump.

"Careful, Chuckie." Lil said.

Then Chuckie fell out of sight.


	5. Chapter 5

"Chuckie!"

"How did that just happen?"

"He went missing right in front of us!"

"I didn't go missing!" A voice cried.

"Chuckie?"

"Still not missing!"

They climbed up to the edge of the open stump to see Chuckie below them, hanging onto a root to keep from falling into the dark hole below him.

"If I let go will I fall into a black hole, or a wormhole, or a pile of snakes?"

"No, no and not sure about the last one." Tommy said.

Then the root broke. Bean watched helplessly as the redhead fell into the darkness. They heard the sound of crumbling and something hitting the ground.

"It's an underground tunnel" They heard him say.

"I'm going in." Dil said, jumping into the tunnel. Bean followed right behind him, and then the others.

"I can't believe I'm here!" Dil said. "An actual alien lab transport system."

"No, Dil, it's a mineshaft." Chuckie corrected him. "Probably used to move gold during the gold rush. There may be dozens, even hundreds of tunnels under the woods."

Bean watched him draw a rabbit figure on the wall with a stick, and realized what this meant. Why he'd never found his friends in the woods. He'd searched high and low, but not low enough.

"Which makes me think everyone who went missing, probably fell into one of them." Chuckie continued.

"Oh, yeah, right. And the brain-sucking pioneers had nothing to do with it." Dil said, but his comment only made the children afraid again.

Bean felt a sudden surge of hope. He was going to find them now. Even if they didn't find them tonight, Bean could search the mines every full moon until he did. Helping these kids make a scary movie had been worth it.

Bean turned around and smiled at them, his eyes glowing red. Without a word, he turned back and headed down the tunnel again.

"Uh, is fire engine red a natural eye color?" Phil asked.

"Funny. I thought his eyes were blue." Lil said.

"No offense, Dil, but there's something strange about that guy." Tommy said.

"I know. Isn't it great?" Dil said.

After walking a bit longer, they started to shiver.

"It's getting really cold." Lil hugged her chest.

"You all know what that means. Starts with a GH and ends with an OST." Dil said.

"How long before we can turn around?" asked Phil.

"I just hope we'll be able to find our way out when we do." Tommy said.

"Oh we will." Chuckie said. "I marked the wall. It's an old miners trick."

"Miners tracked their way using bunnies?" Tommy asked.

"It's the only thing I know how to draw." Chuckie said.

Suddenly, they heard sounds further down the tunnel.

"I just heard people talking." Chuckie whispered.

"Or zombies…" Dil added.

"We've gotta check it out." Tommy said.

The others agreed and they headed towards the voices.

At the end of the tunnel was a large cart full of rocks. Chuckie, Phil, Lil and Dil were trying to push it out of the way of an entrance.

"It won't budge!" Phil said. "What's in here, rocks?"

Bean felt the power surge through him and put his hands on the cart, pushing with all his might. With all five of them, the cart rolled a few feet down the track.

Tommy entered the small cavern first, camera pointed forward. Before them were three skeletons, dressed in outfits not unlike what their Stu, Charlotte, and Howard had been wearing. The children screamed, but Bean felt a mixture of emotions.

Joy, sadness, regret, fear, anger. He wanted to fall to his knees crying and leap for joy and kick the wall in anger all at the same time.

But he only stood there in the entrance of the cavern, stockstill in shock.

Deeper into the cavern were the children's parents. Stu and Howard hugged their children.

"Well, it's about time." Charlotte said.

"We thought you went missing!" Dil said.

"Nothing that eventful. Just fell through a mineshaft." Stu explained.

"Dad, why were you playing cards instead of trying to get out?" Tommy asked.

"We were trying to get out, until we got trapped behind that cart." Stu said. "It's a miracle you were able to move it!"

Bean watched the exchange from afar. His eyes once again glowed red and he smiled, knowing what was coming.

"More importantly, how'd you find us?" Stu asked.

"Chuckie." Tommy said.

"And a little help from this." Chuckie handed Stu the journal. "After reading the journal, suspected the same thing that happened to the missing settlers, happened to you. Except for the getting snowed-in and freezing to death in the middle of a poker game part."

"May I see-eth it?" Howard asked.

As Stu handed him the journal, something slipped out. Dil picked it up, and Bean smiled wider, then backed out of the chamber, his eyes turning white. He was about to be discovered. Dil had picked up the photograph of Bean and his fellow settlers that they had taken when they'd first arrived in the Everwood Forest.

As he followed the bunnies back to the exit, he heard all of the others scream far behind him. He allowed himself a chuckle as he climbed back to the surface.

He went straight to his cabin, trying to hold on for as long as possible. He wasn't sure when the curse would end, but he needed to find Ellie to help him. Luckily, Ellie entered his cabin at that moment.

"So it's over then?" Ellie asked. "The others told me they'd found the missing settlers, and apparently they figured out you're a ghost."

Bean turned back to her, and she took a step back.

"Your eyes are glowing." She said.

"Don't worry. It doesn't mean I'm possessed or anything. The curse is lifting."

"You're leaving?" Ellie asked, sadly.

"Not just yet. There's one more thing I need to do, but I'm going to need your help."

Two hours later, Ellie met him by the stream at the base of the man-faced rock, holding Tommy's camera. All the campers were fast asleep, and she'd snuck into their cabin to get it, just as Bean had asked her to.

"So you want me to film you as the curse breaks?" She asked.

Bean reached for the camera and she gave it to him. He shuddered.

"Are you cold?"

"No, just weak." Bean shot several short clips of the entrance to the tunnels and the man-faced rock. "Wait here." He hopped down into the entrance, returning only five minutes later. "I got a few shots of my old friends."

"Why do you want them to see this? Is this some pioneer way of thanking someone?" Ellie asked, taking the camera back as Bean began shuddering uncontrollably.

Bean laughed, though it sounded painful. "He's making a horror movie. This should be a great addition to it."

Ellie shrugged and pointed the camera at him, the full moon high overhead. "Ready?"

"It's coming to an end, I can feel it. Ellie, I just want you to know…" He paused, dropping to his knees for a moment. "The best thing about this curse… was meeting… you."

Ellie felt a tear roll down her cheek. "This place'll never be the same without you."

Bean stood back up and gave her a thumbs-up. Ellie pressed record.

Bean's eyes were closed, still shuddering. He opened them and said, "Don't never got no brain or nothing." As Ellie zoomed in several times to make it scarier.

As she stopped the recording, she watched as her oldest, or rather, youngest, friend dissolve into red light and then disappear.

She stood there for a moment before smacking her knee and bursting out into almost maniac laughter. "Don't never got no brains or nothing! I'll have you know, Finley "Bean" Mattson, that that phrase is trademarked!"

She swore she heard laughter coming from nowhere. It sounded exactly the same as the day she first heard it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that, my friends, was Interview with a Campfire retold from Bean's point of view (and some of Ellie's). I thought it might be fun to have the "crazy" old lady from the camp be in on Bean's secret. Since it was a kid's show, they didn't delve too deeply into the settler's story and Interview with a Campfire was my absolute favorite All Grown Up episode and I really thought there was way more to Bean than we really know.
> 
> I tried to keep to his character though - quiet and seemingly disinterested, bluntly honest, and mysterious. Also, for the record, Ellie is 46, and as said in the story, she was an actress and loved Camp Everwood and Bean so she stayed there every summer and pretended to be a superstitious old lady, of which Chance was not aware of because he couldn't spot a great actress even with the Hubble Space Telescope.
> 
> And of course I decided to explain the freakin' Loch Ness Monster in a tiny little lake. Big Foot... probably was just visiting. But the LNM was Bean's doing in my fanon.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading, and please review and share with your fellow All Grown Up fans!


End file.
